To be candid, there have been times in the last eleven years I’ve been tempted to quit homeschooling. Years of financial difficulty made me wonder if my children needed my earning power more than my teaching. Times of self-doubt caused me to ask if I was the best person for the job. Plain old weariness made me want to take a break.

In these struggles, I keep going for primarily two reasons. First, I believe God asked me to homeschool and He’s not told me to change courses. Second, I have a husband who believes in homeschooling even though there have been times it would have taken pressure off him if I’d gone back to work.

Monterey is an unincorporated community in Clermont County, in the state of Ohio. A post office called Monterey was established in 1847, and was discontinued in 1957. The community was named in commemoration of the Battle of Monterey (1846). Jackson Twp. School No. 6, one mile south of U. S. Rt. 50, was built in 1903 and is now a private dwelling.

by Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., National Home Education Research Institute (Apr. 19, 2012)

Multiple studies over 30 years have consistently found positive things associated with homeschooling.

Some critics — both of the research and of home-based education — claim, however, that almost no research tells us anything significant about the academic achievement of the home-educated.

One of the most recent studies on home education, by academics Sandra Martin-Chang, Odette Gould, and Reanne Meuse, however, supports the hypothesis that at least a certain form of home-based education causes higher academic achievement than does public schooling. Their research, titled “The Impact of Schooling on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Homeschooled and Traditionally Schooled Students,” is worth a close look.
Read the full article here

Stonelick is an unincorporated community in Clermont County, in the state of Ohio. A post office called Stone Lick was established in 1859, the name was changed to Stonelick in 1895, and the post office closed in 1900. The community takes its name from nearby Stonelick Creek. The school was built in 1898. After it closed it became a private residence.

UNDERAGE DATING: THE ELEPHANT IN THE SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE LIVING-ROOM
by Bryana Johnson (Mar 15, 2012)

(Jean Hall wrote: Offering this simply for thought. I agree with much of it because it matches what I have personally witnessed during my own teen years and as the parent of three teenagers. We each will reap the consequences in our own lives for the judgments we make as we try to direct our own children.)

I have a bone to pick with young, socially conservative Americans, and I know it’s something that will get under your skin. Just sit tight, though, and hear me out, because the elephant in our tidy little room is starting to tear things up. It’s time we acknowledge his existence, and maybe even call in some animal movers to take him back to the zoo.

I currently live in a small community in the Bible-belt of the country and I have been given some opportunities to mentor young people from my area through different venues. I can count on one hand the kids I know from the local high school whose parents have never been divorced. I’ve witnessed reactions of genuine surprise and envy from students who hear that my parents are still together. In any given conversation with groups of youth, I can expect to hear continual references to step-parents, step-siblings, and half-siblings. Divorce is a way of life down here – albeit one that has taken its toll in the lives of the young people that will make up the next generation.

However, while I could certainly write extensively on my experience with the negative effects of divorce on children and on society at large, I actually want to address something else entirely. I have concerns about the number one way that our culture chooses to perpetuate the cancer of broken marriages and failed relationships– underage dating.

Marathon is an unincorporated community in eastern Jackson Township, Clermont County, Ohio. It lies along U.S. Route 50. Although it is unincorporated, it had a post office, with the ZIP code of 45145. Marathon was originally called Cynthiana, and under the latter name was laid out in 1838. A post office called Marathon was established in 1845, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 2011. The current ZIP code is 45118. Its school, located just north of U. S. Rt. 50, was Jackson Twp. No. 1.

A new study shows that students learn way more effectively from print textbooks than screens
Patricia A. Alexander and Lauren M. Singer, The Conversation

[Interesting–I’ve been a textbook advocate over high tech media for years.]

Today’s students see themselves as digital natives, the first generation to grow up surrounded by technology like smartphones, tablets and e-readers.

Teachers, parents and policymakers certainly acknowledge the growing influence of technology and have responded in kind. We’ve seen more investment in classroom technologies, with students now equipped with school-issued iPads and access to e-textbooks.

In 2009, California passed a law requiring that all college textbooks be available in electronic form by 2020; in 2011, Florida lawmakers passed legislation requiring public schools to convert their textbooks to digital versions.

Given this trend, teachers, students, parents and policymakers might assume that students’ familiarity and preference for technology translates into better learning outcomes. But we’ve found that’s not necessarily true.

As researchers in learning and text comprehension, our recent work has focused on the differences between reading print and digital media. While new forms of classroom technology like digital textbooks are more accessible and portable, it would be wrong to assume that students will automatically be better served by digital reading simply because they prefer it.